That rare sighting around our house...

An actual, real-life finished object! This is the finished 'Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi' knock-off hat. And, I was worried that TMO wouldn't like it, being almost three and all, and having very much a mind of her own, but, as you can see, she has no problems with it. Actually, sometimes it's a struggle to get it off her head.

I struggled with how to knit on the earflaps, but after spending two days knitting, ripping, and re-doing, I found a ton of articles on how to do just that. Oh well, sometimes you have to invent the wheel yourself, just to see how it's done.

So...here's how I did it. This is for a 20-ish inch head.

The TMO/Amiyumi hat

Important bits: Yarn used was Cascade 220, used double throughout. Size 13 16" circular needle. The gauge was 3 st=1".

Earflaps: Cast on 10, and knit for desired length. I knit eight inches. Make sure you end after a WS row. After making both, keep on cable part of circ.

Body of hat: Cast on 10, using knitted on cast-on. With RS of flap facing you, knit across flap stitches. Cast on 20, using knitted cast on, knit across second flap, again, with RS facing. Cast on 10 (knitted cast on).

The knitting part:

Place marker, and join in the round. Work in garter for 8 rows (knit one row, purl the next), then switch to stocking stitch (knit every row). After hat is 5 1/2 inches tall, start decreasing.

Decrease section:
Row 1: (K2tog, k 4) repeat until end.
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3: (K2tog, k 3) repeat until end.
Row 4: Knit.
Row 5: (K2tog, k 2) repeat until end.
Row 6: Knit.
Row 7: (K2tog, k 1) repeat until end.
Row 8: Knit.
Row 9: (K2tog) repeat until end.

Break yarn, and using yarn needle, thread yarn through remaining stitches. Pull tightly, and weave in end.

After blocking, the hat was a little big for O, so while it was still damp, I threw it into a hot dryer for about 5-10 minutes. Check it often. Then, I rewet the flaps, and re-blocked them, so that they were longer.


As I said, my inspiration was the hat that I saw on the Cartoon Channel. It was a knitted version of a trapper hat. It was probably inspired by something like this...


or this...




or even (ack!) this.










So, why, oh why, do I keep having this flash into my head?